1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector with a retainer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-167950 and FIG. 22 herein disclose a male connector with a retainer for locking male terminal fittings in a housing. With reference to FIG. 22, a connector assembly includes a female housing 1 that can be received in a receptacle 2 of a male housing 3. A retainer 4 is mounted in the male housing 3 to engage and lock male terminal fittings that have been accommodated properly in the male housing 3. The receptacle 2 of the male housing 3 has a fitting space 6 for receiving the female housing 1, and the retainer 4 has a detector 7 that normally is in the fitting space 6 of the receptacle 2. The female housing 1 has an escaping groove 8 that receives the detector 7 when the retainer 4 is in a proper mount position. However, the retainer 4 might not be moved completely to the proper mount position. In this situation, the detector 7 will not align with the escape groove 8 of the female housing 1, and will hinder connection of the female housing 1. In this way, incomplete mounting of the retainer 4 can be detected.
A demand exists for miniature connector assemblies. However, the escaping groove 8 of the above-described connector assembly requires space and complicates attempts to miniaturize the connector assembly. Thus, there has been a limit in miniaturization of the above-described connector assembly.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to allow a connector to be suitably miniaturized.